Oh, nevermind…

19052009

(Journal entry from Jun 2008 while at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival)

On a hike up the mountain to the waterfall overlooking Telluride:
One woman was talking about getting a baseline mammogram because she’s turning 40. Another woman was questioning that and saying that she wasn’t sure the baseline or subsequent check-ups were necessary since the procedure would introduce x-rays to the body. I said that the effect wouldn’t be that great since the follow-ups weren’t every year and the amount of x-rays were minor compared to the possibility of breast cancer.

She shot back “Yeah, but you’re a scientist, right? And you work in pharmaceuticals.” I replied that just because I work in the industry doesn’t mean that I automatically support taking drugs or subjecting the body to all treatments. In fact, I don’t unless it’s something critical and my body just isn’t dealing well with whatever has been thrown my way.

That’s when I should have stopped.

Instead I went on saying that I knew someone who worked at a tobacco company and was very open about cigarettes being unhealthy, but that he looks at his job from a management perspective & the end product is irrelevant. That’s where I did stop.

I wanted to make the point that someone working in an industry doesn’t necessarily imply support of that industry. It one sense, it’s true: a person can’t assume that that I give blanket approval to taking all drugs because I work in the pharmaceutical industry or that my friend smokes because his job involves selling cigarettes. BUT I did realize before I made that point that giving your life energy to an industry DOES imply consent for that industry on some level and support for what it represents. I get that and DO support some aspects of the drug business. That fact has me once again questioning what I’m doing and where I want to put my life energy..

There was no acceptance of that discussion (or even evaluating the potential benefits of regular mammograms versus risks).

The conversation left me not liking judgmental liberals and recognizing that I have been there myself. This woman was a mirror to that part of myself. She is also representative of the reason so many people put on pretense of being “environmental” or “organic”.

My conservative friends will love this, but today I was annoyed by a liberal.